The Road to Wrestlemania takes a pit stop in Satan’s Prison (which I always assumed was Andy Dick’s house), with both the WWE and World titles on the line. However, only one of them will be defended inside the Chamber, as WWE Champion The Miz will be facing Jerry “The King” Lawler with the gold on the line (you read that right). Edge has five men to deal with, but only knows four of them. Since Dolph Ziggler was “fired” on Smackdown, his spot is now available. Who will step inside the Chamber and battle for the gold? What are my predictions for the entire event? Why do I keep dragging this opening paragraph out, knowing full well you’ve probably skipped down to the predictions? Simply put, that’s how I roll!
Elimination Chamber Match for the World Heavyweight Championship: Edge (champ) vs. Wade Barrett vs. Kane vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Rey Mysterio vs. ???
As mentioned earlier, Teddy Long returned and “fired” Dolph Ziggler, leaving his spot open for another wrestler. I believe either Christian, Cody Rhodes, Big Show or Dolph Ziggler wearing a mask will take the open spot, though I don’t see any of them winning (Christian has a small chance, considering his past with Del Rio). As for the other participants…
Edge: The champion, as always, has the odds stacked against him and is usually the least likely to walk out with the gold. This time around, I think Edge winning is pretty much a given. He and Alberto Del Rio have been having their scuffles over the past few weeks, leaving more room to build. Add in that ADR took out Edge’s best friend, Christian, and you’ve got yourself a good old fashioned blood feud.
Rey Mysterio: He has history with Alberto Del Rio, so him winning and facing him at Mania isn’t too much of a stretch. The only person preventing that from happening is Cody Rhodes, who’s been feuding with Mysterio for awhile. Considering their rivalry is far from over (and beginning to pick up again), Mysterio’s chances are minimal.
Wade Barrett: Though I could have seen him winning the Royal Rumble, Barrett’s chances of walking out of Elimination Chamber with the World title is slim. He’s got a ready made feud with both The Big Show and Undertaker, with both easily being big Wrestlemania matches. He’s also a heel, so him facing Del Rio won’t happen, unless Edge is added to the mix (thanks to his rematch clause). Even so, I don’t think now is the time to put the title on him.
Kane: It’s hard to believe Kane was the most dominating champion last year, up until his dreadful feud with Edge. Ever since he’s lost the title at TLC, his momentum has dropped significantly. Considering he’s got Undertaker to once again face, I don’t see him walking out with the gold.
Drew McIntyre: Do I even have to write up a summary as to why he won’t win?
Final Prediction: Edge
Elimination Chamber Match to Determine the #1 Contender for the WWE Championship: John Cena vs. John Morrison vs. Randy Orton vs. CM Punk vs. King Sheamus vs. R-Truth
John Cena: Has the best odds to win, even if his track record inside the devilish structure says otherwise. Him vs. Miz at Mania would be a good sell, and it seems as if that’s the direction the WWE is going with. The only thing halting this theory is The Rock. After returning last Monday on Raw and lambasting the leader of the CeNation, a possible Rock/Cena match could happen instead. It’d make more money, that’s for sure. However, The Rock has stated in interviews that he doesn’t plan on competing (he is the guest host, after all) and doesn’t have any interest in fighting Cena (despite calling him out). If that’s the case, Cena vs. Miz could still be on, with The Rock being added as the guest referee/special enforcer.
John Morrison: Up until The Rock returned, Morrison’s chances of winning this match weren’t that good. Despite the history he and Miz have, the WWE doesn’t seem intent on pulling the trigger quite yet, with Morrison’s last title shot taking place at Raw instead of the Royal Rumble being a good example. If they book Rock/Cena, though, the door is wide open for a Miz/Morrison title match. Those two would do their best to put on a great show/feud, all the while not having the pressure of selling the PPV themselves. As long as Rock/Cena is booked, the rest of the Mania card could be a 3 hour Tea Party with the WWE locker room and the event would still make millions.
Randy Orton: A safe bet, considering he’s main evented Mania before, and has history with The Miz. His feud with CM Punk will cause a distraction, though, most likely preventing a victory. Then again, the Cena/Punk feud has kind of been dropped, so I wouldn’t be too surprised to see it happen here, as well.
CM Punk: Has a feud with Randy Orton in progress and is a heel, meaning Miz vs. Punk is most likely not happening.
King Sheamus: Heel vs. heel won’t happen; has a ready-made feud with Triple H if he returns; if not, will face either Mark Henry or The Great Khali (as terrible as those two matches would be).
R-Truth: I know I said that, if Rock/Cena were to happen, the rest of the card wouldn’t matter in order to sell the show. Even so, I can’t see R-Truth in the WWE title match at the biggest show of the year. He may be over, but he’s still a mid-carder at the moment.
Final Prediction: John Cena
WWE Championship: The Miz (champion) vs. Jerry Lawler
I don’t see Jerry Lawler defending the WWE Championship at Wrestlemania, though I can see him walking out of Elimination Chamber with the title. Whether it be as a thank you for all of his hard work or sympathy for his mother’s passing (my condolences go out to him and his family), I could see a day or week reign for The King. I’m not saying I’d like it, but it’s a possibility.
On the other hand, this could easily be happening to give Miz something to do between now and Wrestlemania, without having him fight in the Chamber. Considering his character is the sniveling champion who always sneaks his way to a victory, holding the gold up until Wrestlemania, without any road blocks, would only make him losing the title that much sweeter for the audience. Having him brag about beating a legend would only make it better.
Final Prediction: The Miz
Kofi Kingston vs. Alberto Del Rio
Why this match isn’t for the Intercontinental Championship is beyond me. Outside of WWE wanting ADR to win, but keeping the title on Kingston, it doesn’t make a lick of sense for the gold to not be on the line. Del Rio already has a non-title victory over the champ. Why do it again for nothing? If he were to win the championship, that would make his World title match much more interesting, especially if it’s title for title. The last time we had one of those at Wrestlemania was at Wrestlemania VI, a whole 21 years ago. I say we’re due for another one.
Even if they didn’t want that to happen, they could always put the title on the line and have Kofi retain. It wouldn’t halt ADR’s push if it were via a roll-up or Alberto getting himself disqualified, a la Brock Lesnar vs. Rob Van Dam at Vengeance 2002. This could still very well happen, even without the title on the line. Still, it would be much more interesting if it were up for grabs.
Final Prediction: Alberto Del Rio
WWE Tag Team Championship: Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov (champs) vs. Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel (The Corre)
How many times have we seen this match? It’s happened twice on PPV (Survivor Series and TLC) and numerous times on television. Hell, just last night on Smackdown the teams went toe(s)-to-toe(s), with the champions coming out on top. I’ve got nothing against either team (I like them both) and think they’ve had some mildly entertaining matches. But, I’d rather some new challengers face the champions.
Then again, there’s not many other teams in the WWE. Outside of the champions, The Corre and The Nexus, the other teams are random pairings on Superstars. Zack Ryder Primo are the only two who have been making an effort, yet WWE lets them go by unnoticed. There’s also The Usos, but nobody takes them as a threat.
Though it’d be good momentum for The Corre to have the tag team titles with them, I don’t see Koztino dropping them anytime soon. They’re massively over and don’t have much else to do. I don’t see them dropping the gold until Daniel Bryan and Derrick Bateman become an official team. That is if Bateman wins NXT Season 4 (I have my fingers crossed). Until them, I expect the gold to stay around the waists of Santino and Kozlov.
Final Prediction: Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov
One last thing I’d like to do before wrapping this article up. I’ve always had fun in trying to predict the card order of the upcoming PPV. What I mean by this is to guess which order the matches will take place. It’s nothing important or special (which sums up this blog perfectly), but always fun to do. Since this is a prediction article, I figured it’d be a good idea to add it to the mix.
Card Order Prediction:
1. Elimination Chamber Match to Determine the #1 Contender for the WWE Championship: John Cena vs. John Morrison vs. Randy Orton vs. CM Punk vs. King Sheamus vs. R-Truth
2. WWE Tag Team Championship: Koztino vs. The Corre
3. Kofi Kingston vs. Alberto Del Rio
4. WWE Championship: The Miz vs. Jerry “The King” Lawler
5. Elimination Chamber Match for the World Heavyweight Championship: Edge vs. Wade Barrett vs. Kane vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Rey Mysterio vs. ???
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